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MAJOR RAGLAND'S 

INSTRUCTIONS 

HOW TO GROW AND CURE 

TOBACCO 

Especially Fine Yello^v. 



CAREFULLY REVISED BY HIM AND INTRODUCING THE 

LATEST AND BEST EXPERIENCE 

IN THIS LINE. 



OOF'SmiOIIT SECTJI?,EID. 



\ iAH SO M 



PRESENTED BY THE^-4<*''*^* ' 

SOUTHERN FERTILIZING COMPANY, 



RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. ,s 

ess 



of curing. The roof is so constructed, conforming to the plan of the 
tiers below, as to contain three tiers above the joist, varying in length. 
Such a barn will hold about 650 to 700 sticks of medium tobacco, six 
plants to the stick. To prepare for curing brights, it must be chinked 
and daubed close inside and out. 

Flues and Flue-Curing. 

Flues have almost entirely superseded charcoal for curing yellow 
tobacco, as being cheaper and better every way. The heat is more 
readily controlled by the use of flues — an important item in successful 
curing — and the tobacco cured therewith is cleaner, brighter and sweeter 
than that cured with charcoal. The flue is moreover the best mode for 
applying heat in the curing process for any type of tobacco requiring the 
application of artificial heat, and may be used to good advantage in dry- 
ing out and seasoning those types cured mainly by the sun and air, and 
preserving them from injury. Its use is fast " superseding the open wood 
fire with its objectionable smoke," as predicted by the writer years ago. 

The following cut represents the " Furnace and Pipe" flue, more exten- 
sively used at this time than any other, and is not patented. It is cheap 
and reliable, easily controlled, safe, and may be relied upon to work well. 




Cut out two or three logs from the end of the barn as represented by 
the brick work (see diagram). Then first construct the two furnaces 
A B and A B with brick or stone, as follows : Let the mouths of the 
furnaces, A A, project fifteen inches outward beyond the wall — the cut 
fails to show the projection properly — and extend the furnaces to B B, 
about five and a-half to six feet. The outer walls of the furnaces should 



be about fifteen inches distant from the logs or sills of the barn. Build 
the walls of the furnaces eighteen inches apart and eighteen inches high 
at A A, running back to fourteen inches high at B B, and let the bottom 
of the flues slope upward from four to five inches from A A to B B. The 
furnaces should be arched with brick or covered with fire-proof stone, 
or No. i6 or 1 8 sheet iron, from A to B. 

Be careful to see that the furnaces at every point are so constructed as 
not to come in near contact with the sides or walls of the barn, lateral or 
vertical, and that the exits of the pipes are protected by brick or stone, 
as seen in the diagram. 

Insert sheet-iron pipes at B B on cast-iron eyes made for the purpose 
and placed into the ends of the furnaces, as near the tops thereof as pos- 
sible. The eyes are not absolutely necessary, but they greatly protect 
the pipe from burning, and being fixed into the ends of the furnaces, the 
pipe is more readily adjusted. For a 20 by 20 feet barn use pipe eleven 
or twelve inches in diameter — for barn 16 by 16 feet use ten inch pipe. 
Extend the pipe all around from B B to D D, with a gradual elevation of 
one foot rise from B to C, and with two feet elevation from C to D. Cap 
the ends of the pipes with an elbow. 

For small barns, the pipes may be brought together midway between 
C and C, by a V shaped connection into one twelve-inch return pipe, 
through the middle of the barn. This flue operates well and is very 
popular with the planters working a small force and using' only small 
barns, which are better for them than large ones, and is the cheapest good 
flue made. 

Any tinner can make the pipe, and foundries and hardware stores fur- 
nish the eyes. The cost of pipe varies from six and a half to seven and 
a half cents per pound, and ten inch cast eyes cost about two dollars a 
pair, and twelve inch eyes about two dollars and fifty cents. The cost of 
piping for a small barn varies from eight to ten dollars. 

Patented flues cost more, and some of them are well worth the differ- 
ence in the cost over the plain flue. The " Regulator" is one of the best, 
and costs very little more, and as a fuel-saver alone will more than com- 
pensate for difference in cost in one season's curing. By the use of this 
flue the heat is more easily under the control of the curer — the tempera- 
ture being regulated at will by throwing the heat into or out of the barn. 
The " Regulator" is manufactured at South Boston, Va. 

Selection of Seed. 

There is no farm crop grown as a staple in the United States that pays 
better than ^^c'a' tobacco ; and to grow good tobacco requires, in the first 
place, good seed; for good seed is at the foundation of all successful 
farming, and more essential, if possible, as regards tobacco, than in any 
other crop. For in this, the range of types, grades and prices, are wider 
than in any other crop, while the seed affect and control all these more 
than any other factor. Soil, climate and management, next to variety, 
operate to determine the character of the product. 

The variety must be suited to the type which the planter intends to 
raise, and the soil must be adapted to the type, or failure is certain. 



Bright yellow tobacco cannot be produced on dark rich soil, nor rich 
dark "shipping," on poor gray soil ; nor will the rich coarse varieties 
produce fine silky yellow goods, or the thin silky varieties make heavy, 
fat, tough export tobaccos. 

There has been a wonderful improvement in varieties of tobacco during 
the past generation — improvement by selection in the old kinds and the 
introduction of new varieties, with superior qualities and characteristics 
for every type of tobacco. None but an old fogy will continue to plant the 
old, unimproved varieties because they were his father's or grandfather's 
favorites. The world moves, seeds are improved and industries devel- 
oped and advanced. Our ancestors succeeded with the varieties of 
tobacco they planted, when there was mainly but one type — the dark 
shipping — but taste and fashion change, new types are wanted and new 
varieties suited to these types ; and planters, who meet the demand are 
those who make the most money by tobacco planting. 

Where is the successful farmer who now sows the old wheats once used 
by his ancestors ? Look at the improvement in varieties in vegetables, 
fruits, farm and horticultural, in the past century. Seeds, like animals, 
are greatly improved by propagation of selections and judicious crossing; 
and, especially is this true as regards the improvement of seeds, when 
carried on under the most favoring conditions of development as to soil, 
climate and cultivation. Virginia is the home of the tobacco plant, and 
here it develops to the highest perfection, and consequently here have 
originated the best and finest varieties. She grows now all the types 
used in plug tobacco and for pipes and cigarettes; and she has some six- 
teen hundred square miles of soil suited to another type. Cigar Tobacco, 
and these soils lie mainly in the Piedmont country, where our people are 
striving to compete with the West in growing grain. Here is an op- 
portunity that ought to be improved. 

It is a recognized fact that where any flora develops to greatest per- 
fection, there is where the best seed can be grown. It would pay planters 
in the South and West, who grow the yellow and dark export types, to 
get their seeds every year from Virginia, as market-gardeners get seeds 
from localities where the several varieties develop to greatest perfection, 
rather than grow their supplies at lower cost, but under less favoring 
conditions, as to adaptability of soil, climate, &c. They know where 
to get the best, and are aware of the tendency to degeneration in seeds 
generally, and the importance of " a frequent recurrence to first princi- 
ples," to promote healthy normal growth and maturity. 

Planters have no excuse for using poor seed when pedigree seeds of 
all types may be so cheaply procured. The cost of tobacco seed per 
acre ranges from ten to twenty cents — the cost for seed of no other farm 
crop is so little. 

Varieties for Specific Types of Tobacco. 

We will premise by stating that only an approximate guide may be 
given for the selection of varieties suited to the several types. The va- 
riation in soil and climate, in different localities, greatly modify the selec- 
tion. For, what is best in some localities is not best in others ; and trial, 
at last, must determine what is best in every case. When this is found, 



it is well to stick to it and plant mainly of this variety, and sparingly of 
others, until a better is found, if possible. 

We recommend for dark, heavy shipping. Medley Pryor, Blue Pryor 
and Johnson s Green. 

For mahogany wrappers, Tuckahoe, Siueet Oronoko and Gold-Leaf. 

For cutters, use Gooch, Hester and Tuckahoe. 

For fine yellow wrappers, use Tuckahoe ^ White -Stem- Oronoko, yellow 
Pryor, y'ellow Oronoko and Hester. 

For sweet fillers, Sweet Oronoko and Flanagan. 

For yellow fillers and cigarettes, Hyco and Silky Pryor — the latter 
makes fine wrappers on some soils. 

If the planter finds, after trial, that any variety fails to do well on his 
soil, let him discard it, make a note of it, and select another. 

The White - Stem- Oro7ioko, Yellow Pryor and Yellow Oronoko are va- 
rieties that rarely fail to make fine wrappers, wherever such can be grown. 

The Tuckahoe is a new candidate for favor, and deserves extensive 
trial, as it has proved, in Virginia, to produce the richest yellow goods of 
any other — a grade now much in demand. Its comparative freedom 
from spot and burning is greatly in its favor, having proved nearest of all 
to be drought-proof. 

The Sweet Oronoko, for plug fillers, has never been excelled. 

The Hester and Gooch succeed best in some localities for brights or 
cutters. 

Hyco is decidedly the easiest of any to cure yellow ; requires a moist, 
but not wet, gray soil ; rarely succeeds on red or thirsty soil. 

The Tuckahoe and Hester possess a wider adaptability to soils and 
types than any others. 

Preparation of Plant Beds. 

There are two modes for raising plants — in hot bed or cold frame, or 
in the open air — one or the other of which has preference according to 
locality ; the former being more practised north of forty degrees latitude, 
while the latter is preferred south of that line. We will here give both, 
that planters may choose. 

The Hot Bed. — Select a southern or southeastern exposure, sheltered 
on the north, dig and shovel out a space five by twelve feet, or any re- 
quired length, to the depth of eighteen inches. Place straw to the depth 
of three or four inches in the bottom of this trench, and cover with fresh 
unrotted manure from the stable to the depth of six or eight inches; then 
cover the manure with soil — woods-mould is best — five inches deep, and 
surround the bed with planks twelve inches wide on north side and six 
inches wide on the south. These will make a frame over which sections 
of canvas covering should be placed to keep the bed warm, promote 
growth, and protect the plants. These sections may be made of frames 
five feet long and three feet wide, with common domestic cloth tacked 
thereon as a covering, and they answer every purpose as glazed sash, 
are cheaper and less destructible, and may be used for several years to 
grow tobacco or horticultural plants. Once used, you will be loth to do 
without them for the latter purpose. But, to return. Tobacco seed is 



8 

sown on the bed thus prepared at the rate of two teaspoonfuls to a bed 
five by twelve feet. To sow regularly, mix the seed with a fertilizer, ashes 
or plaster, and sow in drills three inches apart. A bed twelve feet long 
will require four sections of canvas covering, which are light and handy, 
and may be put on or off, or adjusted at pleasure. When the plants have 
pretty well covered the surface of the bed, remove the canvas during the 
day, and only replace them when there is danger of frost, or to keep off 
the flea-bugs. There is the advantage of having earlier plants by this 
mode and perfect security against the flea-bug, which will repay for the 
additional cost of raising at least a portion of the plants needed for the 
crop by this safe mode. 

Open Air Beds. — But there is no question that open air beds are 
cheapest. And where this mode of raising plants is practicable, it is 
greatly to be preferred for the main supply of plants. It is a well-estab- 
lished opinion that plants raised in the open air stand transplanting better 
and usually grow off quicker than plants raised in hot bed or cold-frame. 

Selection of Locality.— On the selection of a proper locality for 
a plant bed, and its preparation, largely depends the timely supply of 
strong, healthy plants, without which it is impossible to raise a crop of fine 
grade. The planter, therefore, cannot be too careful in choosing a shel- 
tered spot, neither too wet nor too dry, as rich naturally as can be found, 
and located so as to possess different degrees of moisture. 

Go into the woods, original forest, if possible, and select a spot near a 
branch or stream of water, embracing both hillside and flat, and having 
a southern or southeastern exposure, protected by woods on the north. 
Burn over the plat intended for plants, either by the old or new method. 
The first consists in placing down a bed of wood on small skids three to 
four feet apart on the ground, well cleared and raked. Then fire this bed 
of wood and permit it to remain burning long enough to cook the soil 
brown for half an inch deep. With hooks, or old hoes fastened to long- 
poles, pull the burning mass of brands a distance of four and a half or 
five feet, throw on brush and wood, and continue burning and moving 
the fire until the bed is burned over. Never burn when the land is wet. 
It will require from one and a half to two hours to cook the soil properly. 

Or, better still : Rake over nicely the plat to be burned, then place 
down poles from two to four inches in diameter, three and a half to four 
feet apart, over the entire surface to be burned. Then place brush thickly 
•over the plat and weight down with wood, over which throw leaves, trash 
or other combustible material; over this sprinkle kerosene oil, and set the 
whole on fire and burn at one operation. 

But any mode of burning the plat will sufiice, provided that it is effec- 
tually done. After the plat has been burned and has cooled, rake off the 
large coals and brands, but let the ashes remain, as they are essentially a 
first-class manure. Then coulter over the plat deeply, or break with grub 
hoes, and make fine the soil by repeated chopping and raking, observing 
not to bring the subsoil tO' the surface, and remove all roots and tufts. 
Manure from the stable, hog pen or poultry house, or some reliable com- 
mercial fertilizer (I use the " Anchor Brand" ) should be chopped into 
and thoroughly incorporated with the soil while preparing the bed to be 
sown. Experience has demonstrated that it is better to use both. But 
beware of using manure contaming grass seed. The judgment of the 



9 

planter must guide him in the amount of fertiHzing material to be applied 
at this stage ; but it were well to remind him that the tobacco plant rarely 
responds to homoepathic doses of plant food, but that the allopathic usage 
suits it best. 

Sow at the rate of a tablespoonful of seed, which is about half an 
ounce, on every fifty square yards at first sowing, and later resow with a 
heaping teaspoonful over the same surface, to secure a good stand. In- 
jury by frosts or bugs may require a third or fourth sowing. Sow a lit- 
tle thick rather than too thin to meet contingencies, and secure a good 
stand in time. 

The best way to sow the seed is to mix them thoroughly with a fertil- 
izer or dry ashes, and sow once regularly over the bed, reserving seed 
enough to cross sow to promote regularity. The tobacco seed is the 
smallest of all farm seeds, and consequentl)' requires a light covering. If 
the seed are sown before the 20th of February, the best way is to firm the 
surface of the bed by treading it over closely, but if sown later, sweep 
lightly over with a brush or light rake. Then run surface drains through 
the bed, with inclination enough to pass off the water. To do this prop- 
erly, run them off four or five feet apart with the foot, then open with 
a narrow grubbing- hoe to the depth of three or four inches. Then trench 
deeply around the outside of the bed, to ward off surface water and pre- 
vent washing. 

Mulching and Covering. — Hog hair whipped fine and scattered 
over the bed, attracts and retains moisture, protects the plants from frost, 
and acts as a manure. There is no better covering for a plant-bed, but 
unfortunately it is rarely ever in full supply. Fine brush should be 
placed thickly over the bed, or if not handy, cover with straw or chaff 
free from grain. A covering of some such material is necessary, or the 
young plants are likely to be killed by frost or suffer from drought, and 
thev thrive better with some protection. 

A covering of thin cloth has been found to hasten the growth of plants 
and protect them from freezing and injury by the flea-bug. The bed 
is surrounded by boards tacked up close, to the height of eighteen to 
twenty-four inches, according to the size of the bed ; then a covering of 
thin canvas is made, the size of the bed, and tacked to the upper edge of 
the boards all around. This excludes cold air and fleas, makes the bed 
warmer, and acts as a cold frame, the canvas taking the place of glass. 

Horner & Hyde, of Baltimore, Md., prepare a cloth for plant-beds by 
a process which greatly promotes durability, while rendering the cloth 
unfit for domestic use, and therefore not liable to be stolen. It is a good 
thing, as the writer knows from trial 

The canvas should not touch the bed, but be kept suspended above, by 
ropes stretched across underneath, and firmly fastened, to prevent sag- 
ging- 

A Standing Plant-Bed. — Every planter ought to have a standing 
plant-bed, which may be secured in the following way: Sometime in July 
or August select one of the best of the old plant beds, and with hoes shave 
down the green plants over its entire surface, and cover over thickly with 
straw or leaves, then place green brush thickly over the bed and weight 
down with wood. When the whole is dry, some time in the late fall or 
early winter, set on fire, and thus re-burn over the bed. Then chop and 



10 

rake fine, sow and trench as when first prepared. Repeat the same opera- 
tion every year, and, if the bed is manured properly, it will improve and 
prove a stand-by for many years. 

Unburned Beds. — Plants may be raised by going into the forest, se- 
lecting a moist rich plat, and after raking off the leaves, coultering or 
chopping the surface fine, manuring heavily, and sowing the seed. But 
such beds rarely hold out well if the season be dry. They never " repeat" 
well after the first "drawing" like burnt beds, which are more reliable 
for a successive supply of plants as the season advances. 

Time of Sowing Seed. — The time for sowing varies with the latitude, 
variety and season. Between the parallels of 35 and 40 degrees north 
latitude, compassing the great tobacco belt, beds may be sown any time 
between the ist of January and 20th of March, and the sooner the better 
for the bright grades, which ought to be planted early to mature, ripen 
and yellow, preparatory to being cured early in the fall, when the most 
successful curings are usually made. Yellow tobacco ought to be planted 
out in May, but June plantings usually do best in heavy dark grades. The 
planter will consult his interest by sowing at a proper time to suit the 
grade he desires to raise. 

Plants set out after the loth of July rarely pay for growing and hand- 
ling, and if not planted by that time, it will be wise to plant the hills in 
peas, potatoes, or something else. 

Hastening the Growth of Plants. — As soon as the plants become 
"square," i. e., have four leaves, you may begin to force their growth, if 
necessary. Nothing is better at this stage of their growth than to apply 
dry stable manure, rubbed fine, and sowed over the bed — applying at the 
rate of five bushels to every one hundred square yards. Be sure to have 
it dry and fine, and apply when the plants are dry. This is a favorable 
time to apply a good fertilizer, and the best time to apply it is during a 
shower, or when it is apparent that one is impending. 

Look out for the " Flea-Bug." — If the "fly," as it is called, begins 
to devour the young plants, apply plaster, in which rags saturated 
with kerosene oil have lain for a few hours, covering the plants with the 
plaster, if necessary, to keep the little pests from devouring them. Re- 
peat the application after every rain, unless the flies have left. 

A covering of green cedar brush has driven off" the fly when other 
remedies failed, and saved the plants. If the flies are numerous, the 
planter can save his plants only by vigilant and constant attention. Hard 
burning, early and thick sowing, liberal and frequent applications of 
manure, are the best safeguards, which rarely fail to reward the planter 
with an early and full supply of stocky plants, and with some left for his 
less provident neighbors. Some planters, if such they may be called, al- 
ways fail — some never. Follow the latter, and you will always be right. 

Selection of Soil, Preparation and Manuring. 

The tobacco plant thrives best in a deep, mellow, loamy soil, rich or 
made so with manures. The subsoil ought to be sufficiently porous to 
permit the water falling on the surface to pass downward readily, and not 
to accumulate to drown and stagnate. 

If old land is selected, it ought to be fallowed deep in the fall or early 



11 

winter, that the frosts may pulverize it. Turn under, if possible, some 
coarse farm manure, for its decay will greatly help to loosen the soil, 
while furnishing pabulum for the crop. As a coarse manure for yellow 
tobacco, nothing is better than wheat straw turned under in the fall and 
winter. The plants rarely fail to ripen yellow in color on land thus 
treated. 

In the early spring more manure may be applied, but it is better that 
this should come from the compost heap. Follow the application of the 
compost with one-horse turning ploughs, crossing the previous plough- 
ing, turning not exceeding four or five inches deep — about half the depth 
of the first ploughing. Then, just before it is time to plant, run double 
shovel ploughs over the lot, crossing the previous furrows, and follow 
with harrow or drag, crossing again to thoroughly make fine. These 
repeated ploughings, crossing each time every previous one, never fail, 
if the work is done when the land is in proper condition, to put it in 
proper tilth. 

Let the planter remember that "a good preparation is half cultivation," 
and not stop until the land is in proper condition. 

If any one knows of a better way, then let him pursue it — the writer 
knows of none better. And just here it may be well to state, that perfec- 
tion is not claimed for any mode or practice recommended in this book, 
but only the best methods known to the author are given, for guidance to 
the uninitiated. We live and learn, but life is too short to learn every 
good thing by experience unaided. Every man owes something to those 
who are to come after him ; to freely give as he has freely received. 

But the author is not writing for those who know more than he does — 
and doubtless there are very many — but for beginners, and those having 
but little experience in tobacco culture. He gives no advice which he has 
not followed in his own work, and recommends nothing which experience 
has not commended as the best in theory tested by practice. Those who 
possess a better knowledge of the subject, and whose practice is verified 
by results, ought by all means to give the public the benefit of their 
knowledge and experience. Planters will gladly welcome their teaching, 
and honor them for their service. 

But, to return. Having put the land in nice "order," lay off the rows 
with a shovel plough, three feet three inches apart, and follow, drilling 
along the furrow some reliable, tried fertilizer at the rate of some one hun- 
dred and fifty to three hundred pounds per acre, according to the natural 
strength of the soil and the quantity of manure previously applied. Then 
follow with one-horse turning ploughs, lapping four furrows on the fertil- 
ized trench, and when finished in this manner your lot is ready to be 
planted, when the beds have been "patted" with hoes, with "pats" two 
feet ten inches apart; to mark points for setting the plants. 

New ground, or old field that has grown up and been cut down, will 
require different preparation from old smooth land. But on the former 
our best brights are raised. Any preparation that will put the soil in fine 
condition, clear of roots, tufts and trash, is all that is required. Experi- 
ence teaches, that if land is cut down two or three years previous to its 
being prepared for tobacco, it greatly facilitates the preparation and helps 
its fertility. Much of the vegetable material, both in and upon the soil 
rots, the roots break easily, and the soil is altogether lighter and finer. 



f2 

While it is economy to dispense with the hand-hoe in making hills on 
old land— the plough doing all the work, as it ought, when it can be well 
done — yet on stumpy, rooty and rough land, the hoe is indispensable in 
the preparation of a hill, as it should be made to receive the plant. But 
before the hills are made, it may be well, unless the soil is naturally rich, 
and such is not often the case with soils best adapted to yellow tobacco, to 
apply some fertilizing material to hasten forward the plants, and mature 
them properly and early. Here commercial fertilizers have done, and are 
doing, their best work. Bulky, coarse manures often do more harm than 
good on new and puffy soils. The smaller the bulk, and the more con- 
centrated the fertilizing elements, the more readily they are appropriated 
and assimilated by the plants, if of the right material, and in the most 
available form. Nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash, lime and soda, are 
most necessary for the tobacco plant ; and a fertilizer, which supplies the 
relative quantity of each, and from the proper sources, will never fail to 
show good effects therefrom, if the rainfall is sufficient to quicken their 
action. 

There are several brands of fertilizers manufactured especially for to- 
bacco, differing in composition, price and merit ; and after repeated ex- 
periments with most, if not all, of the best, the author gives it as his 
decided opinion, that for /?«<?, bright, silky tobacco, nothing equals the 
"Anchor Brand" Tobacco Fertilizer, prepared by the Southern Fertil- 
izing Company, Richmond, Va. And this opinion is based upon nineteen 
years' trial, and often in competition with the best of other brands on the 
market. It is a tried and proved fertilizer, which the planter can use 
without the risk of getting something unsuited to his crop, and therefore, 
we can recommend it with confidence. A good article of any grade of 
tobacco requires high farming. Bear this in mind, and act accordingly. 

Mode of Applying Fertilizers.— Planters differ in the manner of 
applying fertilizers, whether in the hill, drill or broadcast. That the same 
quantity will go further and produce larger results the first year, for the 
quantity used when applied in the hill or drill, is generally conceded. 
But advocates for broadcasting claim that when the crop, to which the 
fertilizer is applied, is to be followed by another in quick succession — to 
be sown in wheat as soon as the tobacco is removed — then broadcasting 
is best, for reasons which seem too apparent to need explanation. 

Having prepared the land for hilling, apply the fertilizer by whichever 
mode the planter prefers, and in such quantity as the natural strength of 
the soil indicates, laying off the rows three feet three inches apart, and 
make the hills about two feet ten inches distant from centre to centre. 
Mark the measure on the hoe-handle, and require the hillers to apply it 
frequently as a guide. The rows should be wider apart than the hills, 
to afford proper cultivation without breaking and bruising the plants at 
the final ploughing — a matter of no small importance, as the least blemish 
on a fine leaf nearly destroys its value as a wrapper. 

Planting. — Having prepared the hills, you are ready to plant any 
time after the first of May. Planting is often most effectually done when 
the hills are being made in May, and the land is moist with the winter's 
sap, by planting in the afternoon the hills made the same day. If prop- 
erly planted, very few of the plants will fail to live. Observe to draw the 
plants one by one from the bed, and handle so as not to bruise them. It 



13 

is a waste of time and plants to set out very small plants, but wait until 
they are of proper size — the largest leaves about two and a half to three 
inches wide. Put a basket of plants in the hands of a boy or girl, who 
drops a plant on each hill, dropping in one or two rows, according to age 
or expertness. The men loUow, with each a planting peg made of hard 
wood, six inches long, one and a quarter inch in diameter at large end, 
and tapering to a point. Each planter takes a " hand plant " to start with 
(unless the dropper has learned to drop two plants on the first hill), and 
pushing his planting peg some two inches into the hill, withdraws the 
peg, inserts the plant, and by a dexterous movement of the peg and the 
knuckles of the left hand, closes the dirt gently but compactly around 
the roots. He then picks up the plant on the hill as he moves forward 
and by the time he reaches the next hill has adjusted the plant in his hand 
to insert into the hole in the next hill. Thus the "hand plant" facilitates 
the work. Try it, and you will be convinced. There is art in planting 
properly, as is shown in the increased number of living monuments that 
attest superior work. But why enter into such minute details? say some. 
That you may start right, shun the errors of inexperience, and practice at 
the start the best methods, as demonstrated by successful practice. 

If the soil is dry when the hills are made, then it will require a " sea- 
son" for planting. The best come with showers. It is not well to plant 
soon after a soaking rain, but wait until the land settles. If the plants are 
good, seasons favorable, and the planting well done, very few will die if 
transplanted before the loth of July. After that time all is uncertainty. 
Hence the importance of getting a stand before that time. 

After planting over, it will be necessary to replant from time to time as 
seasons occur, embracing every opportunity to fill up the missing hills. 
If cut worms are troublesome, hunt for and destroy every one as far as 
possible; for it is useless to put a plant in a hill where one of these pests 
has taken up quarters, and expect it to live and grow. 

Cultivating. — It is important to commence cultivation soon after 
planting, to loosen the soil and start the plants growing. Just at this 
point many planters fail to do their duty, which no subsequent work can 
atone for. Early, rapid and thorough cultivation is necessary to produce 
first class goods. If the preparation has been thorough, thrice plough- 
ing, followed each time with a hand hoe, will suffice for the crop. 

For the first ploughing, no implement is better than the wing coulter, 
the next best the cultivator. The second ploughing may be effectually 
done with the turning plough or cultivator; if grassy, use the first. The 
last ploughing is most efitectually done with three furrows with the single 
shovel — a furrow on each side, then splitting the middle with the third 
and last furrow. 

Never "scrape down" tobacco with the hoe without putting back on 
hill or bed as much dirt as is scraped down. This will prevent baking, 
and save many plants should a dry spell follow the hand-hoe working. 

Any process which stirs the soil effectually and often and keeps the 
plants free from grass and weeds, will constitute good cultivation, no 
matter how or with what implement done. Old land will require more 
work in cultivation than new, and dark grades more than bright. Short 
singletrees should be used after the plants are half grown, to prevent tear- 
ing and breaking the leaves. 



t 
14 

The yellow grades should be cleared of grass and weeds before the first 
of August, and not ploughed thereafter; but the hoes may be used at any 
time to clear out the crop till the leaves commence graining. The longer 
tobacco is ploughed the later the plants will be in ripening ; therefore, 
the importance of giving early and thorough cultivation. Any one who 
can raise good cabbage ought to know how to cultivate tobacco, as the 
cultivation is very similar. 

Priming and Topping. 

Under this head there is a wide difference of opinion. Breaking off 
the small and inferior leaves of the plant near the ground is called "prim- 
ing," which operation is done along with the "topping," if done at all. 
There are advantages for and against priming, but all resort to topping — 
plucking out the seed bud and adjacent small leaves with the thumb and 
finger. Some contend that pulling off the lower leaves saps the plants 
and retards growth, if the weather is dry. That permitting the lower 
leaves to remain on the stalk protects the upper ones from sand and grit, 
makes them cleaner and therefore more saleable. Sand and grit are the 
terror of the tobacco buyer. On the other hand, it is contended by some 
that by pulling off the lower leaves, which are generally useless, the re- 
maining leaves receive more nutriment and contain more wax, oil and 
gum, and that the lower leaves harbor worms and make the worming pro- 
cess more tedious. 

It is best to wait until a considerable number of plants begin to button 
for seed before commencing to top. Topping should be the work of ex- 
perienced and trusty hands — men who can top, leaving any required 
number of leaves on a plant without counting. The secret of this— no 
longer a secret to the initiated — is, that the topper soon learns to know 
that counting the bottom leaf and the leaf that hangs over it in the third 
tier going upward, make tiine leaves, including both top and bottom 
leaves. Fixing this in his mind, the topper has only to add to or deduct 
from this index leaf marking nine, to leave any desired number of leaves 
on each plant with certainty and without counting. Young man, if you 
don't know how, get some old negro to show you. Topping, you will 
find, is a slow business if you have to count the leaves on all the plants 
topped. If the plants are not " primed," then the "bottom" leaf must 
be fixed by the eye, looking upward for the leaf in the third tier, which 
hangs over it, to catch the cue as before. If priming is done, don't err 
in pulling off too many leaves. No regular rule can be given, so the 
planter must judge for himself. The reason given for waiting until many 
plants are ready to be topped is mainly that more plants may ripen to- 
gether and be ready for the knife at the same time. This is an advantage 
that applies with strong force to all tobacco intended for flue curing. 

The number of leaves to be left on each plant varies according to the 
time the work is done, early or late, the appearance and prospective de- 
velopment of the plant, the season, whether propitious or unfavorable, 
strength of the soil, and amount of fertilizing material applied. On me- 
dium soils, in ordinary seasons, the first topping should be from ten to 
thirteen leaves —rarely more — for brights. For sweet fillers from nine to 
ten, and for dark, rich shipping, from eight to nine leaves are enough. 



15 

As the season advances reduce the number of leaves accordingly ; remem- 
bering that quality more than quantity regulates returns. 

Worming and Suckering. 

Many devices have been resorted to in order to lessen the number and 
mitigate the ravages of the horn-worm, but the lack of general and con- 
tinued efforts from year to year has brought only partial relief Some 
years they come in great numbers, and despite the best efforts of the 
planter, seriously damage his crop. Perhaps the next year they are lew, 
and give him no trouble. It is the nature of this insect to raise at least 
two broods during the year. The hawk-moth or tobacco-fly usually makes 
its appearance in Virginia in the month of May. The eggs deposited by 
the first moths hatch out in from five to seven days larvae or worms. 
The worm sheds its outer skin twice before it gets its growth. The grow- 
ing stage of the worm lasts from twenty-five to thirty days, and after it 
has attained its growth it gorges itself a few days longer, and then crawls 
or burrows into the ground, where it soon passes into the pupa state ; and 
after some twenty-three or twenty-five days from the time of its crawling 
into the ground the pupa sends forth a moth to lay more eggs and hatch 
out more worms. Each moth is capable of laying on an average two 
hundred eggs. So that for every moth in May we may reasonably ex- 
pect at least one hundred worms of the first brood ; and if none of these 
are destroyed, but all allowed to change to moths, and these latter to raise 
a horde of worms, what wonder that the second brood sometime appears 
in such countless numbers as to defy all efforts to destroy them before 
they have ruined the crop. Every moth ought to be destroyed as they 
appear ; and this mav be done to great extent by injecting a few drops of 
sweetened Cobalt (which is a poison) into the flowers of the Petunia, 
Honey-Suckle or Jamestown (Jimpson) weed, which will give them their 
final quietus. But this hunt for the moth is not general, and if it were 
some would escape. But if every planter would wage a war of extermi- 
nation on the first brood of worms — unfortunately a thing rarely done — 
they would never appear in such unconquerable hordes later in the season. 
The suckers should be pulled off every week as they appear, and ought 
never to be permitted to get over two mches long ; for if permitted to 
grow large thev abstract much that would otherwise go to perfect a rich, 
silky leaf No planter need expect a crop of fine grade who does not 
pull off the suckers while small, and prevent the horn-worms from rid- 
dling the leaves. 

Cutting and Housing. 

Do not be in a hurry to begin cutting your tobacco until it is ripe, and 
enough fully and uniformly ripe to fill a barn. A thin butcher or shoe 
knife, well sharpened, and wrapped with a soft cloth around the handle 
and extending an inch along the blade, will do the work effectually and be 
easy to the hand. Try it. Put knives into the hands of experienced cut- 
ters only — men who know ripe tobacco, and will select plants uniform in 
color and texture, and will cut no other. Have your sticks all ready in 
the field, and placed in piles convenient — sticking a stick vertically in the 



16 

ground over each pile that they may be more easily found when wanted. 
Pine sticks, rived three-fourths of an inch by one and one-fourth inch, 
and four and one-half feet long, drawn smooth, are best. 

Start together two cutters and one stick holder — the cutters carrying 
two rows each and the stick-holder walking between them. The cutter 
takes hold of the plant with his left hand at the top near where the knife 
enters the stalk ; with his right he splits the stalk down the centre ( observ- 
ing to guide the knife so as not to sever the leaves) to within three inches 
of the point he intends to sever the stalk from the hill ; and as the knife 
descends his left hand follows the slit or opening, and when the plant is 
severed from the hill, by a dexterous movement of the left hand the plant 
is straddled across the stick in the hands of the holder. When the stick 
has received about six medium plants, if intended for brights, it is ready 
to go to the barn, either carried by hand if near, or hauled on a wagon 
if distant. If it is necessary to use the wagon, prepare a bed sixteen feet 
long to hold three coops on piles, on which place tobacco as cut, and 
after placing twenty-five or thirty sticks of cut tobacco on each coop, 
drive to the barn to be unloaded. 

Tobacco suitable for brights is best handled in this way, as it is bruised 
less than if handled by any other mode. Fry it, planters, and know for 
yourselves. Very heavy tobacco will break less if, after being cut by the 
above mode, the sticks are placed gently on the ground and the plants 
allowed to wilt before being removed to the barn. But tobacco of me- 
dium size bruises less to handle it without wilting. Cutting and housing 
by this mode you never have any sun-burned tobacco. For brights, it 
has been found best to commence curing at once, as soon as the barn can 
be filled. 

*' Sun-Cured Tobacco " 

Just here it may be well to give our practice in sun-curing. If the crop 
is too rich and coarse for brights, then it may be good policy to cure it 
sweet. To do this properly, erect scaffolds at or near the barns, on which 
place the tobacco as soon as cut. But some, in order to obviate the haul- 
ing of heavy green tobacco, place the scaffolds in or near the tobacco field. 
But it is never safe to scaffold tobacco away from the barn ; for after the 
leaf is partially dry it ought never to be caught out in the rain ; which 
may happen if the tobacco is placed on scaffolds away from the barn. 
When rain threatens, that on scaffolds near the barn may very soon be 
placed out of danger, but not so that on scaffolds afar off. 

But flue-cured fillers command nearly or quite as much as sun-cured, 
and the risk is much less. 

To cure fillers with flues, let the tobacco be placed in the barn as soon 
as cut, and raise the heat in the barn to eighty-five or ninety degrees 
Fahrenheit, and then go about other business. Kindle fires in the flues 
every morning, raising the heat to ninety degrees, and then leave as be- 
fore, and continue to do this for four or five days until the tobacco is 
thoroughly yellowed. If the tobacco has much sap, it may be necessary 
to continue the yellowing process from five to seven days to yellow prop- 
erly. When the leaves have assumed a mottled, piebald appearance, run 
the heat to one hundred degrees and let it remain at that point for three 



17 

or four hours. Then raise the heat two and a half degrees an hour until 
one hundred and thirty is reached. Keep the heat at this point until the 
leaf is cured, and then move up gradually to one hundred and seventy or 
one hundred and eighty, and thus cure stalk and stem. If cured properly, 
there will be much of the leaf mahogany , while the remainder will run 
from a bright dapple to a cherry red. 

"Shipping Tobacco." 

Dark heavy shipping, and nothing which does not possess size and 
substance is fit for this grade, may be cured with flues better than in any 
other way. Smoke from the open wood fire is objectionable, and with 
the flue you get the heat, which is all that is wanted, without the smoke. 
Curing with open wood fires belongs to the past, and none but the old 
Bourbons will continue the old practice, because they know no better. 
Taste and fashion are against smoke, and nothing else is needed to banish 
the old and recommend the new mode. If a dark color is desired, which 
is not so fashionable as formerly, it can be secured as easily over flues as 
over wood fires. But the world wants colcry tobacco, and this can be 
produced certainly better with the flue than in any other way. Besides, 
by the flue the leaf is cured sweet and free from smoke or soot. 

A skilful curer can produce the colors most in demand, and by the 
flue better, and with more certainty, than in any other way. The main 
object of the author is to induce planters, who have never used flues, to 
try them for all grades. 

Curing "Bright Yellow Tobacco." 

There are two modes for curing yellow tobacco — one with charcoal and 
the other with flues. The first is the primitive mode, but is fast giving 
place to the latter, which is cheaper and more efficient, and is being 
adopted by most of our best planters. The chief agent in either models 
heat — a dry, curing heat — to expel the sap from the leaves, stems and 
stalks of the plants, and catch the color, yellow, next to Nature's color, 
green, and \.o fix it indelibly. This is the science of curing yellow to- 
bacco. There are seven prismatic colors — that of green tobacco occupy- 
ing the middle of the prism. Bv the process of nature, leaves in drying 
descend in color from green, first to yellow, then orange, then red, and 
finally lose all color as they go to decay. Now, a quick dry heat, so reg- 
ulated as to dry out the leaf and catch the yellow, and fix it, is the modtis 
operandi of curing fancy bright tobacco. 

A barn containing seven hundred sticks of green tobacco, six medium 
plants on each stick, holds along with the tobacco four thousand five hun- 
dred to five thousand pounds of water, which must be expelled in from 
eighty-five to one hundred hours. 

Charcoal produces an open, dry heat, w^ell suited for the purpose ; but 
its preparation is costly, its use tedious, dirty and laborious and it deposits 
a black dust on the leaf that is objectionable. With flues (see diagram) 
constructed with furnace and pipes, the wood is burned as cut in the 
forest or old field, and the whole process of curing is less costly and less 

2 



18 

laborious, and the tobacco cured therewith free from dust, and has a 
sweeter flavor. The flue process possesses so many advantages over all 
other modes of curing tobacco, is so safe, if properly constructed, and 
free from smoke, that when its merits become better known, it will come 
into general use and supersede all other modes. 

The first step in curing is called the steaming or yellowing pro- 
cess. Medium tobacco will require from twenty four to thirty hours 
steaming at about ninety degrees to yellow sufficiently; but tobacco with 
more or less sap, larger or smaller, will require a longer or shorter time 
to yellow. Here the judgment of the curer must be his guide. Inex- 
perienced planters would do well to procure the services of an expert 
curer, if the}'^ have tobacco suitable for fine yellow. The planter saves in 
enhanced value of his crop many times the money paid to the curer, and 
besides, by close attention, he may learn in one season to cure well him- 
self. Theory alone, however good, and directions, however minute, will 
not do here, but it is practice that must qualify one to cure well. 

When it is remembered that no two plants are exactly alike, no two 
barns precisely similar in every particular and that the weather may 
change every hour, is it reasonable that a fixed programme can be fol- 
lowed for every curing with any reasonable hope of success ? The expe- 
rienced know better. On work so variable, only general directions can 
be given. 

The next step is called fixing the color. When the tobacco is 
sufficiently yellowed, best leaves of a uniform yellow, and the greener 
ones of a light pea-green color, it is time to advance the heat to one hun- 
dred degrees; observing the leaves closely to detect sweating, which will 
soon redden and spoil the color, unless driven off". To do this, open the 
door and let it stand open, and if, after an hour or more, the sweat has 
not disappeared, open a space between the logs on opposite sides of the 
barn to let in more air, and permit it to remain open until the tobacco 
has dried off" all appearance of the sweat. Right at this point more 
curings are spoiled than at any other stage of the process. It may be 
well to remember what is a fact, that at least five curings are spoiled by 
proceeding too fast, to one failure from going too slow. Now stick a 
pin here. 

But to go back to the barn where we have just dried the leaf, and 
where the thermometer indicates a fall of five or ten degrees — but this 
need not concern the curer to put him out of hope, for a little cooling 
under the circumstances was necessary — we close up the opening and 
raise the heat to one hundred degrees. But a skilful curer detects the 
first indications of sweat, and prevents it by regulating the heat. 

Keep the heat at one hundred degrees for four hours, and then advance 
two and half degrees every two hours, until one hundred and ten degrees 
are reached. Here you have reached the most critical point in the diffi- 
cult process of curing bright tobacco. The condition and appearance of 
the tobacco must now be the curer' s guide. No one can successfully 
cure tobacco until he can distinguish the eff"ects of too much or too little 
heat in the appearance of the leaf Too little heat, in fixing the color, 
operates to stain xh^face side of the leaf a dull brown color, and is called 
"sponging," and may be known to the novice by its appearance only 
on \h^face side of the leaf Too much heat reddens the leaf, first around 



19 

the edge and then in spots, which are visible on both sides. Now, to pre- 
vent sponging on the one hand and spotting on the other, is the aim of 
the experienced curer. No definite time can be laid down to run fi-om 
one hundred and ten to one hundred and twenty degrees. Sometimes 
four hours will suffice, then again eight hours is fast enough. While it is 
usual at this stage to advance about five degrees every two hours for 
medium tobacco, the condition of the tobacco often indicates, to the 
practised eye, the necessity for slower or faster movement. But it is safe 
not to advance above one hundred and ten degrees until the tails begin 
to curl up at the ends. Arrived at one hundred and twenty or one hun- 
dred and twenty-five degrees, this is the curing process. The heat 
should remain at or near these figures until the leaf is cured, which will 
require from six to eight hours, according to the amount of sap in the 
leaf to be expelled. When the leaf appears to be cured, advance five 
degrees every hour up to one hundred and seventy degrees and remain 
until stalk and stem are thoroughly cured. To run above one hundred 
and eighty degrees is to endanger scorching the tobacco, and perhaps 
burning both barn and tobacco. 

To recapitulate: 

First. Yellowing process, 90 degrees, from 24 to 30 hours. 

Second. Fixing Color, 100 degrees, 4 hours. 

" " " 100 to no, 2% degrees every 2 hours. 

" " " no to 120, 4 to 8 hours. 

Third. Curing the leaf, 120 or 125, 6 to 8 hours. 

Fourth. Curing stalk and stem, 125 to 170, 5- degrees an hour. And 
continue at one hundred and seventy degrees until stalk and stem are 
thoroughly killed and dry, which usually requires from twelve to fifteen 
hours. 

The New Method. 

The curing process for yellow tobacco, as heretofore laid down, was 
first published in the year 1871, and was the first systematic treatise given 
to the public on the difficult art of curing yellow tobacco; and it has 
remained substantially unaltered through six editions of the pamphlet, 
aggregating largely over 100,000 copies. Thousands in several States 
have taken it for their guide and been enabled to learn to cure success- 
fully, without any other assistance. But the yellow tobacco industry has 
greatly progressed and extended during the past decade, and new light 
has come through experience to further perfect the art of curing. 

The following is given as the latest improvements in curing tobacco: 

House the tobacco as soon as cut, and after warming up the barn for 
two or three hours, at a temperature of about 90 degrees, advance the 
heat rapidly up to 125 degrees — or as high as it will bear without scalding 
the tobacco — letting the heat remain at 125 degrees only a few minutes, 
and then, by drawing the fires and turning the dampers, cut off the heat 
and let the temperature of the barn descend to 90 degrees. 

This is generally called "sapping." The ratio7iale of the process 
is this: The heat, by expansion, opens the sap cells and starts the water 
to the surface, facilitates evaporation and hastens the yellowing process. 

This " limbering up " process, of high heat at the start, must be of 
short duration, or else great injury will be done to the tobacco. 



20 

Following this mode, the yellowing process is greatly shortened, 
requiring from four to eight hours less to yellow sufficiently, and also 
hastens the second stage of curing — fixing the color. 

It is well to state that there is so great a difference in the character of 
tobacco grown in different localities, that no rule can be given for the 
yellowing process, applicable to all. The tobacco of middle and west- 
ern North Carolina, will yellow in much less time than that grown in 
middle Virginia. Then again, tobacco will bear higher temperature in 
the yellowing process during some years than in others. Notably the 
season of 1884, was so dry and tobacco held so little sap when ripe, that 
many commenced yellowing at 100 degrees, and had the leaf cured in 50 
hours. But this is exceptional, and for general practice would spoil both 
color and tobacco. 

The season, therefore, it must be borne in mind, greatly determines the 
amount of heat the tobacco will require to be yellowed and cured. 

Some of the patented flues are so constructed that the heat is easily 
controlled, and the tobacco smoked or steamed, or both, as may be neces- 
sary in the yellowing stage. Some tobacco will require neither to yellow 
right, while some other will dry up green or red without yellowing, if 
smoke or steam be not used to assist the yellowing process. Smoke and 
steam will facilitate the yellowing of thin poor tobacco, holding very lit- 
tle sap. Wetting the barn floor from time to time will assist in yellowing 
tobacco. Then there is an occasional barn of tobacco that defies all the 
known modes and appliances to yellow or cure bright. 

But for all practical purposes, whenever the curer has mastered a knowl- 
edge of the effects of too much or too little heat, as evidenced in the 
color of the tobacco, clearly described heretofore, he possesses a key to 
solve the difficult problem in the science of curing tobacco. By close 
observation this lesson may soon be learned and then success is easy. 

After curing, as soon as the tobacco is sufficiently soft to move, you 
mav run it up in the roof of the barn and crowd it close, or if the barn is 
needed for other curings, the tobacco may be carried to the storage barn 
or bulked down in any dry house on the premises. But be sure that 
nothing is bulked with green stalks or swelled stems, for if such are 
placed down in bulk it will be sure to heat and utterly ruin. 

Ordering. 

If, after the tobacco is cured, the weather remains dry and it fails to 
get soft readily, so that it can be moved, it may be brought in order in 
the following way: Place green bushes with the leaves on over the floor 
and sprinkle water over them copiously; if the tobacco is very dry and 
the atmosphere contains but little moisture, and if the weather is cool, a 
little fire kindled in the flues will assist in making the tobacco soft. 
Straw wet, or made so, will answer the same purpose. If the weather is 
damp, there will be no necessity to use either straw, brush or water. But 
when it is necessary to use any means to order tobacco, it is best to 
apply them in the afternoon, that the tobacco may be removed the next 
morning. 

If the weather continues warm and damp or rainy, tobacco that remains 
hanging will be apt to change color, unless dried out by flues or charcoal. 



21 

When this becomes necessary, build small fires at first, and raise the heat 
gradually. 

Stripping. 

Tobacco should never be stripped fi'om the stalks except in pliable 
order, and the leaves on every plant should be carefully assorted, and 
every grade tied up separately. Usually there will be three grades of 
leaf, assorted with reference to color and size, and two of lugs. Of leaf 
tie six to eight leaves in a bundle, and of lugs eight to ten. As fast as 
you strip, either hang the "hands" on sticks — twenty-five to each 
stick — and hang up or bulk down in two layers, the heads of hands or 
bundles facing outward. The latter mode is best, if you intend to sell 
in winter order loose, on the warehouse floors. If bulked down, watch 
frequently to see that it does not heat. If the bulk becomes warm it must 
be broken up, aired and rebulked, or hung up if too soft. It is safer 
always to hang up as soon as stripped, unless you design to sell soon, 
and strike down in "safe-keeping order" in spring or summer. It is 
considered in "safe order" when the leaf is pliable, and the stem will 
crack half-way down from the tie. 

Packing. 

If you sell loose, deliver in large uniform piles — such will cost less, and 
your tobacco bring more in price. But to sell in a distant market, pack 
in tierces — half- hogsheads make the best and cheapest — to weigh about 
four hundred pounds net, taking care not to press the tobacco so as to 
bruise it, or pack it too closely together. The best leaf is wanted for 
wrappers, and it must open easily when shaken in the hand. Pack one 
grade only in each tierce, uniform in color and length; but if it becomes 
necessary to put more than one grade in a tierce, place strips of paper or 
straw between to mark and separate them. Pack honestly, for honesty is 
always the best policy. The man who "nests" his tobacco will certainly 
go on the " Black List," and buyers have good memories. 

If your tobacco is fine, sound, 2C!\A nicely handled, you'll have the satis- 
faction of getting, at the least, a remunerating price for it, although poor 
and nondescript stock may be selling for less than the cost of production. 
The world outside of this country makes, as a rule, low grades plenty, 
and at a cost to raise much less than we can compass. We must plant 
less surface, manure heavier, and cultivate and manage better if we would 
get the best prices. 

The following extracts, taken from the Border Review, published in 
Granville county. North Carolina, where some of the finest brights in the 
world are produced, are here given, that the reader may select a pro- 
gramme to suit his judgment and preference: 

The Tobacco Curing Process, Recorded at the Barn Door. 

Building eighteen feet square, four firing tiers, fitted up with sheet-iron pipe 
flues, manufactured by R. G. Wyatt, Henderson, N. C. 

No. I, filled with about four hundred and fifty sticks of tobacco grown on old 
field, fertilized with "Anchor Brand," at the rate of two hundred pounds per 
acre. Bright yellow on the hill. Leaf large, but light and thin, due to imperfect 
cultivation. 



22 

Started fires, and ran up to ninety degrees in six hours ; then to one hundred in 
six more ; then to one hundred and ten in six — yellow leaf at end of eighteen 
hours. Then up to one hundred and twenty in six hours ; to one hundred and 
twenty five in six ; to one hundred and thirty in six ; then to one hundred and 
forty in three hours, and remained at that temperature six hours — leaf now about 
cured; then to one hundred and fifty in three hours, and remained there three 
hours ; then to one hundred and seventy-five in twelve hours, and continued there 
twelve hours. A perfect cure in seventy-two hours, and bright lemon color. 

No. 2 is a building of the same size, fitted up with the same kinds of flues, 
manufactured by Allen & Co., Henderson, N. C. Barn filled with same number 
of sticks of tobacco, grown on same land, but some larger, and thicker leaf. 

Started fires, and ran up to ninety-five degrees in eight hours; then to one 
hundred in six hours; then to one hundred and ten in ten hours — leaf yellow; 
then to one hundred and twenty in eight hours; to one hundred and thirty in 
six; to one hundred and forty in six, and remaining from one hundred and forty 
to one hundred and fifty in eighteen hour.'^ ; then to one hundred and seventy- 
five in six hours, and continued there about twelve hours. Stalk, stem and leaf, 
fully cured at the expiration of eighty hours. Leaf bright lemon color. Success. 

The difference in the time of curing was due to the size of tobacco. The flues 
of both manufactures are equally efficient, and require a very small quantity of 
wood. 

An opening, ten inches wide, is left at the top, whole length of barn, and closed 
after the leaf is cured. This removes all danger of " sweating." 

THE HESTER PROCESS. 

Start fires, and go to ninety or one hundred, and stand twenty-four to thirty 
hours ; then to one hundred and ten in five or six hours, and stand till the 
desired color is obtained ; then go up five degrees every two and a half hours 
till one hundred and thirty is reached, and stand till leaf is cured, usually from 
■eighteen to twenty-four hours ; then five degrees every two hours till one 
hundred and eighty is reached, and standing three hours, drop to one hundred 
and sixty or one hundred and seventy, and stand till stalk is cured. Whole 
time about ninety si.x hours. The process of Mr. Samuel Collis is about the 
same as above. 

If you have not a large stock of patience and perseverance, with a will 
to learn, and a resolution to keep trying until you succeed, you have 
missed your calling, and had better try something else; for there is no 
royal road to success in bright tobacco raising. But if you possess the 
true essentials— have the true and lasting pluck — you will succeed, soon 
or late, and, what is better, reap a full reward for honest, faithful toil. 

And now a parting word. No farmer, who wishes to thrive, should 
depend upon one crop to keep him going. Unless he raises on his place 
the food needed by his family and his stock, he stands in fearful jeopardy ; 
for if his one crop (which is to pay for everything) fails, he and hi>- are 
bound to suffer. The drought of 1881 taught us very fully that painful 
lesson. If in the tobacco country, and he makes tobacco his money crop 
(raising at the same time his own food supplies), he will be able to pay 
cash for his fertilizer, and thus secure the large discount that men are 
always ready to make for the cash down. "Time-sales" eat like the 
canker-worm. He will likewise be ready to deal justly by his labor, and 
to provide with comfort to his purse for the necessaries that cannot be 
produced on his place, not the least among which is some good agricul- 
tural periodical. In this latter he will find a never-failing source of pleas- 
ure and instruction for self, wife and children. 



23 

Note by the CoiMpanv. — We know of no man to whom the tobacco 
planter is more indebted than to Major Ragland. To his instructions 
how to grow and cure the crop is the great advance that has been made 
in the production of fine yellow tobacco especially due. The inquiries 
made of him, for seed of the best varieties, became so numerous and per- 
sistent, that he was compelled to make tobacco seed-growing part of his 
regular business ; and that there might be no question about their 
reliability, he selects not only the finest plants of each particular variety 
for seed, but clips off" all the blossoms except the crown-shoot, thereby 
throwing the whole strength of the plant there. Inasmuch as inquiries 
for seed also continually come to us, and that these inquiries may be 
answered all at once, we have asked the Major for a copy of his cata- 
logue, to insert in this document, and here it is : 

SEASON 1884-5. 



Pioneer Tobacco Seed — Farm, 

THE BEST VARIETIES 
FOR EVERY TYPE OF TOBACCO. 



PEDIGREE SEEDS, improved by continuous selection, and grown 
on the crown shoots only, warranted true to name, and of the highest 
vitality. It is essential to select a variety suited to the type desired to 
be produced, then order at once, and sow early. 

We offer none but seeds of our own production. None better can be 
found than the following : 

TucKAHOE. — A first class variety in every respect. New and prefer- 
able to most of the older varieties for possessing more body. Leaf long, 
and extra fine — the perfection of a wrapper. Price, 30 cents per ounce. 

White-Stem Oronoko. — From the Yellow Oronoko, which it re- 
sembles, and a most excellent variety. Greatly preferred in some locali- 
ties where the finest types are grown. Per ounce, 30 cents 

Gold Leaf. — One of the newest and best of the brights. Cures 
orange, rather than lemon color, and makes a first class cutter, wrapper 
or filler. 

Silky Pryor. — Resembles the Yellow Pryor. Leaf rather small, bu 
texture silkier. 

Mayo. — Like Sweet Oronoko, from which it sprang. Leaf broader 
and finer. Makes a filler and mahogany wrapper that cannot be sur- 
passed. 

Hyco. — A new variety, and the easiest of all cured yellow. Fine 



24 

texture, g-ood flavor, and sells well. A Hybrid Oronoko and Gourd 
Leaf. A beautiful and desirable variety. 

Hester. — A new variety, originated in Granville county, N. C, and 
has no superior for the yellow type. It has size, shape, texture and 
color, and ripens early. It recommends itself greatly in this, that it has 
greater adaptability over a wider range of soils than any other of the 
yellow varieties, and may on this score be considered the surest. 

Yellow Oronoko. — A reliable old yellow variety, grown for more 
than forty years, and improved with reference to the production of yellow 
stock. 

GoocH.- — A new variety of great excellence. Resembles the Yellow 
Oronoko, but has a larger leaf — a splendid manufacturing sort. 

Yellow Pryor. — Preferred by many for brights, and succeeds where 
other yellow sorts fail. The West is giving it preference. 

Sweet Oronoko. — Used for first class plug fillers, and makes when 
sun-cured the best Natural Chewing Leaf A favorite for the " Home- 
spun" wherever known. 

Flanagan. — Originated in Henry county, Va., and is greatly used 
for making sweet fillers and mahogany wrappers. It is a variety of the 
Old Sweet Oronoko. 

Big Oronoko. — An old variety, and a good tried one. Has a large, 
broad, finely-shaped leaf, and for strips and dark wrappers has no equal. 

Blue Pryor. — A favorite rich, dark shipping variety. 

Medley Pryor. — Originated in Halifax county, Va., about seventy 
years ago, and is a general favorite with planters who grow the English 
and Continental grades. When properly grown and cured, it commands 
the highest price for a " shipper." 

Glessner. — A new cigar variety from Pennsylvania. Large and fine. 

Cuban Seed Leaf. — A Hybrid Havana and Seed Leaf Grows 
large, of fine texture and delightful flavor. 

The Cuban Seed Leaf and Glessner are well suited to our Virginia 
climate and soils, and have no superior for cigars. 

We defy competition in the selection, quality and price of our seeds. 

Retail price by mail, 25 cents per ounce, five ounces for $1, except 
where otherwise stated. Special wholesale rates to the trade on appli- 
cation. 

R. L. Ragland, Hyco, Halifax Cotmty, Va. 



In support of Major Ragland' s statement, in connection with the 
"Anchor Brand," it gives us great pleasure to present (in the follow- 
ing) the report of the Major's manager, Mr. Edward F. Cole : 

" Hyco, Va.. January 19, 1885. 

"To the Southern Fertilizing Co., Richmond, Va.: 

" Dear Sirs, — Major Ragland has referred to me, for answer, your letter 
reqnesting to know how the 'Anchor Brand' Tobacco Fertilizer behaved oa 
his crop the past year. 



25 

"We used on our crop of tobacco — 52 acres — last year, four diflferent brands 
of fertilizers, one of which was the ' Anchor Brand.' The several fertilizers 
were used on contiguous ground, all throngli the crop in the several fields, and 
all staked off to designate each, so as to compare and determine the merits of 
each one used. 

"At one stage of growth two of the brands used gave promise of out-stripping 
the 'Anchor'; but the latter beat all on the ' home stretch,' and made the rich- 
est, heaviest and best tobacco in the crop. 

"That part of the crop fertilized with the 'Anchor' did not burn so much at 
bottom, during the drought, as that fertilized with the other three brands. 

" During the six years that I have managed for Major Ragland, we have 
always applied, every year, other brands in competition with the ' Anchor 
Brand,' but that article has invariably proved to be the best of all. 

" Yours respectfully, 

" Edw^ard F. Cole, 
'' Manager for Major R. L. Ragland." 



Testimony in Confirmation 

Of Major Ragland's Judgment on the " Anchor 

Brand" Tobacco Fertilizer, from the Chief 

Markets in the Tobacco Region. 



It must be a source of great gratification to Major Ragland to know 
that the opinion held by him, in the matter of the special excellence of 
the "Anchor Brand," as an appropriate food for the tobacco plant, is 
fully confirmed at every point in Virginia and North Carolina vi'here 
tobacco is largely handled, as the statements presented below will amply 
testify. This standard and long-tried article continues to receive, from 
year to year, the commendation alike of grower and warehouseman, and 
with the accomplishment of such a result it is not seen how any farmer 
could get his consent to take the risk of failure by investing in anything 
else. He wants his crop to niatiire hi good time, not to fire i?i dry weather, 
to cure up ivell and uniformly , and to be fine in color, weight, and text^ire. 
All this is secured by the use of the "Anchor Brand," not one year, but 
year after year. But let those who are best able to speak state what they 
have to say, and here it is : 

DANVILLE. — Messrs. Pace Brothers, while proprietors of the 
"Star Warehouse," Danville, Va., made this report : 

" From our experience in the tobacco business, having been in close contact 
with the planters of this fine tobacco section for the past six years, we find that 



^6 

the finest tobacco IS made by planters who use the ' Anchor Brand ' Tobacco 
Fertilizer (known in old times as ' Gilham's ') and we do not hesitate, upon the 
facts given by the leading, most successful, and reliable planters of our acquaint- 
ance, to recommend this fertilizer as the best and cheapest, because it is the best 
and most reliable fertilizer on the market." 

The testimony above is confirmed by a note just received from Mr. 
Ed. M. Pace, of that firm, and now of "Pace's Warehouse," Danville: 

" For more than fifteen years I have mingled with the tobacco planters, around 
their fire-sides, throughout the whole region of country trading at Danville, and 
I have yet to hear the first complaint made of the 'Anchor Brand,' and nowhere 
has more of it been used than in this region. On the contrary, they say it pushes 
the, plant in the beds, and feeds it when set clear through to maturity, making a 
leaf of fine quality." 

Gen. H. H. Hurt, of the "Eagle Warehouse," Danville, reports: 

"I have watched with much gratification the continued success of the 'Anchor 
Brand ' Tobacco Fertilizer for the last ten years, both while I did business in 
Halifax county and since I have resided here, and believe it to be equal to any 
fertilizer that I have ever known in ordinary seasons, awafybr a dry season, it 
surpasses alt other fertilizers that I have come in contact with. For the past two 
years I have been engaged in selling leaf tobacco, and from what I can gather 
from farmers who have used the 'Anchor Brand,' I am convinced that it is one 
of the most reliable and best fertilizers ever manufactured, for the production of 
the fine yellow tobacco peculiar to this section of our State and North Carolina." 

Mr. R. A. Arrington, of Danville, has been handling the "Anchor 
Brand ' ' largely for many years, and has this to say about it : 

" I have refused to sell any other fertilizer for tobacco but the 'Anchor Brand,' 
because, whether the seasons be wet or dry, my customers report satisfactory re- 
sults from it. I want to do more than merely sell a fertilizer ; the man who uses it 
ought to be able to pay for it and have money left to buy the other goods I keep 
in store; and those who get the 'Anchor Brand' from me do this very thing. 
They are all better off by its use, and they could not be if the tobacco they raised 
didn't bring a good price. I don't think a better commendation of the value o' 
this article could be given than the increased prosperity of those who use it." 

LYNCHBURG. — Messrs. Lee, Taylor & Snead, of Lynchburg, are 
among the heaviest handlers of leaf tobacco in the Southern country, and 
furnish the "Anchor Brand" to their customers, who are found all 
through Southwestern Virginia, East Tennessee and Western North 
Carolina. This is their report: 

"We have never had a complaint of the 'Anchor Brand ' since we have been 
handling it, and our experience with it covers many years. The farmers say it is 
the very thing for 'Brights,' and that it matures the crop always in good time. 
It is our judgment, familiar as we have been for years with the trade in leaf to- 



27 



bacco, that it is not desirable to push the plant too rapidly and bring it to ma- 
turity too early. The best tobacco we handle is that which runs its full age in 
growth of from 95 to no days. Stimulating too much depreciates materially the 
quality and lessens the width of leaf. We don't know of a better answer to the 
inquiry about the color, weight and texture of the tobacco raised by the ' Anchor 
Brand,' than to give some of the prices we have gotten on the crops produced by 
It now being marketed. These figures represent the average price per hundred : 



17,233 
52,369 
12,036 
23,110 
62,921 

49,524 

61,028 

69,920 

448,211 



pounds averaging $ 75 46 per 100 lbs. 



57 06 




54 35 


' " 


44 2>-2- 




40 37 


£ U 


35 74 


' " ' 


29 33 


( U 


23 05 


' " ' 


39 64 


< <■ < 



DURHAM. — The "Anchor Brand" began its career at Durham 
coincident with that of Mr. Blackwell, who estabHshed the famous 
"Durham Bull" brand of smoking tobacco. Mr. Henry A. Reams 
had charge of the first tobacco warehouse there, and sold the " Anchor 
Brand ' ' to his customers. Here is the report he made after he had seen 
the results of ten years from the use of the " Anchor Brand" : 

" I do not hesitate to say that my books will show more pounds of tobacco 
sold at fancy prices, and more specially high averages, raised by the 'Anchor 
Brand ' Tobacco Fertilizer, than by all other brands beside. The better the 
tobacco the better my commissions for selling it, and knowing from my long 
experience as a tobacco salesman, what most universally gives the best tobacco, 
I want my friends to use that article. The tobacco raised by the ' Anchor 
Brand ' is uniform in size, regular in color, and of the finest texture." 

Mr. John L. Markham, who now sells the " Anchor Brand " at Dur- 
ham, confirms the good opinion expressed by Mr. Reams, and adds : 
"This fertilizer has always been noted for making a fine smooth yellow 
tobacco on the hill. It matures the crop in good time, and the tobacco 
does not scab so badly in wet weather, nor fire so much in dry weather* 
as where other fertilizers are used. I have never heard a complaint of 
the " Anchor Brand." 

WINSTON. — The sale of the "Anchor Brand" began at Winston 
before a tobacco warehouse or tobacco factory had any existence- there. 
Messrs. Robert Gray & Sons handled it. Out of the tobacco grown 
by its use came the market now existing there, and it is a very large one- 
Major J. T. Brown early opened a warehouse for tobacco, and gave the 
followins: as his estimate of the " Anchor Brand" : 



28 

" While farming I preferred the ' Anchor Brand ' Tobacco Fertilizer to all 
other preparations for the tobacco crop. I regard it as one of the safest and 
surest investments a farmer can make ; in fact, both experience and observation 
confirm the opinion held by our best tobacco growers that this fertilizer is with- 
out a successful competitor in the production of fine tobacco. In few words, the 
very best tobacco sold at this warehouse, year in and year out, is made by the 
use of the ' Anchor Brand.' " 

Messrs. Pfohl &. Stockton, of Winston, succeeded Messrs. Robert 
Gray & Sons in the sale of the " Anchor Brand." Their trade in it ex- 
tends from Forsythe into Surry, Stokes, Guilford, Yadkin, Davidson, 
Davie and Iredell counties. They report as follows : 

"We have handled the 'Anchor Brand ' very largely for many years, and have 
heard the judgments of both grower and buyer on the merits of the tobacco pro- 
duced by it. The testimony has been uniformly in its favor as the best applica- 
tion known for the production of fine, heavy, silky, yellow tobacco, The country 
trading at this market embraces a very large area, and consequently a consider- 
able diversity of soils, and yet this article is found to do satisfactory work, no 
matter where used in our territory." 

BRISTOL. — The great increase in the production of tobacco in the 
country trading at Bristol, has made that point a good leaf market. Its 
location brings growers from Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina* 
Messrs. J. H. Winston & Son, of "Winston's Tobacco Warehouse," 
Bristol, have handled the " Anchor Brand ' ' from the beginning there, 
and are consequently perfectly familiar with its action. Here is what 
they report : 

" The Anchor Brand Tobacco Fertilizer has given better satisfaction than any 
other article ever offered here for the tobacco crop. Other fertilizers will make 
tobacco grow, just as ashes make it grow, rank and coarse and green. The 
Anchor Brand makes it grow, too, but at the same time it gives a leaf of exquisite 
color and texture. Our customers tell us that it is the very thing for fine, bright, 
silky tobacco; that it pushes the plant forward as fast as is desirable, maturing 
it in full time ; that tobacco, if rushed too rapidly, has a thin leaf with poor 
texture, whereas the Anchor Brand gives a tough, substantial leaf; that is, it 
feeds the plant regularly from the beginning to the end. We can't give better 
testimony to the excellence of this article than to report the fact that the tobacco 
we sell that brings the highest averages is made by the Anchor Brand. Our 
sales of this article show a larger figure each year, and everything points to 
specially heavy sales the coming season. A man is certainly not wise who will 
pass by what time has shown to always do good work, and allow himself to be 
persuaded to take what may lose him his crop. We sold a few days ago four 
crops (all made by Anchor Brand customers), and they met every requisite de- 
sired in a smoker and wrapper, toughness, body, elasticity and a sple7idid coloi\ 
An old Lynchburg buyer present said he had never seen anything as handsome." 



29 

ASHEVILLE. — The yellow tobacco raised in the region around 
Asheville is specially fine for cigarette purposes, and that market is grow- 
ing with great rapidity. The soils, however, are diverse, thus permitting 
the cultivation of several distinct types of tobacco, and so that point, in the 
future, will not be confined to one type, but be rather a market where all 
sorts of buyers can be accommodated. Asheville has now both tobacco 
warehouses and factories, and a very large trade in the "Anchor Brand." 
Messrs. Penniman & Co., there have arranged to supply all their friends 
with it in the region from Old Fort to the Tennessee line, including 
Cocke county, Tennessee, and the country along both branches of the 
Western North Carolina Railroad. They report great satisfaction with 
it by their customers, as witness the following examples: 

Barnard, Madison County, N. C, Sept. 26, 1884. 

Messrs. Pettniman & Co., Asheville, N. C. : 

Gentlemen, — I used on my crop this year ten sacks of Anchor Brand To- 
bacco Fertilizer, and forty sacks of other kinds, being and 

. I entered my tobacco at the Western North Carolina Fair at Asheville, 

and selected exclusively from that on which I used the Anchor, it being so much 
superior to the other tobacco. It gives me pleasure to report the following 
results, viz : I received ^50, first premium, on fine wrappers ; $30, first premium, 
on fine smokers ; |2o, first premium, on fine cutters ; and, in addition, |2o and a 
diploma for the finest display of leaf tobacco from any one farm. 

Yours, truly, 

C. A. Nichols. 

In submitting a sample of tobacco, a few days ago, Messrs. Penniman 
& Co. made the following statement about it : "We induced Mr. Luther, 
a friend of ours, to take a single acre and put it in tobacco, using the 
Anchor Brand, and taking care to itemize the result. He had never cul- 
tivated tobacco before ; but the outcome, which we present in the follow- 
ing, shows what intelligent management, aided by this fertilizer, can 
accomplish : 

Dr. — To use of i acre (measured) of land $ 3 50 

" lyi. sacks of Anchor Brand 7 20 

" cost of cultivating and curing the crop 35 90 

I 46 60 
Cr. — By 752 lbs. of tobacco, netting 190 00 

Net profit on the acre |i43 40 



Not having any experience, he had to employ a man to cure the 



30 

crop, which made an expense that he would not otherwise have had to 
incur. We will here mention a few other instances : 

" As to the WEIGHT of the tobacco grown by the Anchor Brand, one 
of our customers had a man on his place who worked for a share of the 
crop. This man was to have the contents of a barn, which, with all the 
sticks in place, had never turned out, before the use of the Anchor Brand, 
over 400 lbs. of tobacco. The man, wanting some money in advance of 
time to market the crop, asked his employer to take his tobacco to 
account at the prevailing price, and settle on the basis of 400 lbs. This 
was done, but when the tobacco, raised by the Anchor Brand, was taken 
down for market, it was found to weigh 490 lbs ! — an increase of nearly 
25 per cent. That certainly is a conclusive demonstration of the ability 
of the Anchor Brand to give iveis:ht to tobacco. 

"Another one of the "Anchor Brand" customers, on the crop he 
sold last April, got $2,600 for the product of six acres of land. 

" Mr. T. B. Stallcup, of Swain county, used Anchor Brand, and two 
other brands on his tobacco last season, and reports that he greatly 
prefers the ' Anchor.' It gave his tobacco a better body and color, and 
made a much heavier, gummier leaf. From the acre, on which he used 
the ' Anchor,' he got 764 lbs. of tobacco, which sold for $259.75, or 34 
cents average. He says he will use nothing but the ' Anchor' on the 
crop planted this Spring." 

" Mr. G. W. Reed, of Riceville, informs us that he had fully 100 pounds 
more weight to the barn, with the ' Anchor,' than the folks in his neigh- 
borhood, who insisted on using other fertilizers, had in barns of the same 
size." 

REIDSVILLE.— The "Anchor Brand" has been at Reidsville ever 
since it became a tobacco market. Messrs. Mathews & Williamson, 
who handle it there, are thoroughly informed about its action, and made 
this report on it : 

" From our own personal experience — and it covers a long time — in watching 
the results from the use of the various brands of commercial fertilizers handled 
in this section, it is our mature judgment that the 'Anchor Brand ' stands at the 
head of all for the production of fine silky yellow tobacco. The plant seems 
to receive more fitting nourishment from the use of this article than from any 
other, and we are of opinion that if our farmers made it their stand-by we would 
hear less of light, chaffy tobacco, having some color but no body, and that the 
farmer would realize the result he ought to enjoy from his labor ; for low grade 
tobacco zvill not bring big money." 



31 

In a late communication from them they add : 

"The Anchor Brand continues to give the same good satisfaction. Tlie best 
farmers tell us that they prefer a fertilizer that will not spend too much of its 
force in the beginning, but rather one that will hold out to the end, so that the 
crop can be well cured, and a leaf made of body as well as color." 

GREENSBORO.- — This point is a comparatively new tobacco mar- 
ket, but it has a good ran^e and is bound to go forward. The "Anchor 
Brand" was generally used, and Messrs. W. E. Bevill & Co., of "Bevill's 
Tobacco Warehouse," who handle it, report that their customers, despite 
the unfavorable season, showed little complaint with its action, and that 
' ' the tobacco made from its use has a better body and weighs more than 
that produced by the use of any other fertilizer." 

HENDERSON AND OXFORD.— These points, like all the other 
markets in the yellow tobacco country, are the happy results of the infor- 
mation (Major Ragland's "Instructions How to Grow and Cure Fine 
Yellow Tobacco,") disseminated by the Southern Fertilizing Company. 
The " Anchor Brand " has been largely in the region trading at those 
points for eighteen years, and ranks among its customers the best growers 
there. The Lyon family, near Dutchville, have had remarkable success 
with it, reaching figures for their crops that were supposed to be unattain- 
able. Mr. A. G. Fleming, in the same range, a famous locality for the 
production of fine yellow tobacco of the best quality, received at the 
State Agricultural Fair of North Carolina, in 1882, the premium of $50 
on fine yellow tobacco. Mr. Fleming used the " Anchor Brand," and 
says in a letter to the Company that he can safely and readily confirm 
the high estimate Major Ragland holds of the excellence and reliability 
of the "Anchor Brand" lor the production oi fine, silky, yellow tobacco. 
Mr. David Yarbrough, of Person county, took the first premium at 
the North Carolina State Fair, Raleigh, in 1 881, on fine yellow wrap- 
pers, and these wrappers were raised by the use of the "Anchor Brand." 
Messrs. Parker & Closs, who handle the "Anchor Brand" at Hender- 
son, write that it continues to give the same good satisfaction. Also, Mr. 
J. A. Webb, who handles the " Anchor Brand" at Oxford. 

HICKORY. — We cannot do better, in connection with this market, 
than give the language of Mr. R. B. Davis, who resides in the region 
(Catawba county) trading at Hickory, in his " Manual of Tobacco Cul- 
ture ' ' .• 

" As the planter can ill afford to run a risk in this matter, I can with confidence 
recommend to him the Anchor Brand Tobacco Ferdlizer, manufactured by the 
Southern Fertilizing Company, Richmond, Va., and which is a specific prepara- 



tion for tobacco, and was formerly known as 'Gilham's Tobacco Fertilizer,' 
having been first prepared by the formula of the late Col. William Gilham, of the 
Virginia Military Institute. I have used it from the beginning, and it has uni- 
formly maintained its original standard." 

SALISBURY. — The two tobacco warehouses at Salisbury are 
making good headway, and, with the fine country around that point, its 
position as a tobacco market is assured. Mr. J. D. Gaskill, who sells 
the "Anchor Brand" there, writes that his customers, as far as he has 
been able to confer with them, say that " the 'Anchor Brand ' gives them 
better satisfaction than anything they have ever tried on tobacco." 

STATESVILLE. — Statesville is a fine tobacco market, and the 
energy of her business men will make it a better one. The " Anchor 
Brand ' ' has been there for many years, and our representatives there, 
Messrs. Ramsey & Maxwell, report the same general satisfaction with 
it that exists at Winston and the other points in their region. 

SOUTH BOSTON. — This point has become a very extensive to- 
bacco market, and drains a large area of country. Like Durham and 
Winston, it has grown with remarkable rapidity, but its prosperity is 
none the less solid for that. The types sold there meet all shades of 
demand ; and in no region has the "Anchor Brand " been more largely 
used. Messrs. J. W. Easley & Co., have been handling it at South Bos- 
ton, and report: "When the soil is suited to the type, the 'Anchor 
Brand/ grows tobacco of the finest quality. It acts admirably, both as 
to starting the crop and feeding it through to maturity. ' ' Mr. T. A. Wat- 
kins, at Turbeville, in the same range, reports : " My customers are well 
pleased with the work of the "Anchor Brand" last year. With sea- 
sons at all favorable, none of them have encountered any trouble in 
making fine crops with it. ' ' Mr. T. W; Leigh, in the same range, reports : 
"I have always thought, and continue to think, that the 'Anchor 
Brand" is without any superior and few equals in the market, and this 
judgment is confirmed by my customers. ' ' Messrs. Tori an & Co. , of Mid- 
way, in the same range, report: "The 'Anchor Brand' behaved well 
for our customers." Mr. R. T. Edwards, of Mountain Road, in the 
same range, reports: "My crop of 175,000 hills had no rain after the' 
nth of July, yet in all of my early plantings with the ' Anchor Brand,' 
I have both size and color. 400 pounds to the acre is the average quan- 
tity used by the best farmers. ' ' 

ROANOKE. —This point has always been a good tobacco market, 
and has large plug factories. Messrs. P. L. Terry & Co., who handle the 
"Anchor Brand " there, report: "All of our customers pronounce the 



33 

Anchor Brand to be 'O. K.' for fine tobacco; no one has ever complained 
of it. It gives the crop early maturity, and a leaf of excellent quality." 

ABINGDON. — This is a comparatively new tobacco market, but it 
boasts several warehouses and a number of factories. Messrs. F. B. 
Hurt & Co., who sell the "Anchor Brand" there, only confirm the testi- 
mony from all the other fine tobacco points, when they say that it is pre- 
ferred above all other fertilizers by their customers. 

MARTINSVILLE.— The growth of this market, both in tobacco 
warehouses and factories, is remarkable. The "Anchor Brand" enjoys a 
fine trade there, and is held in high esteem. The " Anchor Brand " is 
no less commended by the growers of the fine sun-cured leaf peculiar to 
the " Leatherwood Valley," in the same county (Henry). 

THE YELLOW TOBACCO OF WEST VIRGINIA.— The 

area devoted to this crop in West Virginia has been increasing from year 
to year. Several years ago it was found to be impossible to secure good 
prices for this growth, the leaf being so chaffy. Mr. Silas Shelburne, 
of Richmond, Va., who handles nearly all of the yellow tobacco grown 
in West Virginia, informed his friends there that unless they abandoned 
the fertilizer they were using, and adopted the " Anchor Brand," they 
must not hold him responsible for the low prices their crops would bring. 
He recommended, in order that his judgment might be tested, that they 
try the "Anchor Brand" on one-half of their crops, putting the fer- 
tilizer they had been using on the other half; then cure and pack 
separately the leaf produced by each, and let the market (both being 
sold the same day) determine which was the better. The result was so 
universally in favor of the "Anchor Brand," that he has orders now for 
nothing else from that quarter. Mr. Shelburne assures us that for beau- 
tiful color, BODY, and texture, the " Anchor Brand" excels all other 
fertilizers ever made for yellow tobacco, and his experience covers many 
years and a large range of country. 

Shipping Tobacco. — Last year showed most trying seasons on to- 
bacco of this type. The "Regie" buyers are, in consequence, put to 
great straits to find leaf sufficient to fill their contracts. Still, such leaf 
was produced, and by the "Anchor Brand." Take an instance. Mess. 
J. T. IsBELL, Son & Co., of Cartersville, Cumberland county, Virginia, 
are not only large growers but very heavy buyers of leaf The senior 
member of the firm called on us a few days ago and stated that they grew 
the finest crop of "shipping" produced in the county last year, using 
only the " Anchor Brand " on it; that in going on their rounds, buying, 
3 



34 

they carried along a sample of this crop, for the sake of comparison, and 
finding those who used other fertilizers did not have anything at all to 
equal it, could give them no other comfort than to tell them that, had 
the "Anchor Brand" been used, the tobacco would have brought a 
very much better price. 

Sun-Cure D Tobacco. — There is no region where more satisfactory 
results have been gotten from the ' 'Anchor Brand' ' than in the home, in 
particular, of the "sweet-sun-cured" tobacco (Caroline and Louisa 
counties, Virginia). In Caroline, such fine growers as, Dr. J. A. Flippo, 
Mr. Littleton Flippo, Mr. L. B. Goodloe, Mr. Joseph B. FHppo and Mr. 
Manassah Campbell; and in Louisa, Mr. Joseph M. Baker and the cus- 
tomers of Mr. H. M. Daniel, at the Court House, can bear testimony to 
the excellence of the " Anchor Brand." They have told us about the 
extreme sweetness of the flavor and of the leathery character of the leaf 
(the very perfection of quality for fine plug stock), in the tobacco raised by 
the " Anchor Brand." 

The flood of testimony, furnished by the foregoing, establishes all that 
could be desired by the Company manufacturing the "Anchor Brand; " 
and it is to them a source of peculiar pleasure that their customers are satis- 
fied that they have gotton exactly what they bargained for, namely: a 

HIGHLY concentrated FERTILIZER ABLE TO PRODUCE TOBACCO OF 

THE FINEST QUALITY. That is what the Company started out to do, 
and the proof here presented shows that it has been splendidly accom- 
plished. 

Information Received by the Southern Fertilizing Company 
Bearing upon the Volume of the Tobacco Crop that ought to 
be Planted this Year in the Range Covered by their Trade. 

To become as fully acquainted as possible with the tobacco situation, 
as it affects the region covered by our trade, we have conferred with gen- 
tlemen largely interested in handling all the types our people produce, 
and give below the substance of their statements : 

Fine Yellow Tobacco. — The domestic demand, in particular, for 
this tobacco is such that the area at present devoted to this type is not 
great enough to supply it. We see, therefore, trom year to year, no 
abatement in the prices of this variety of leaf, if of fine quality ; on 
the contrary, a steady advance. The cigarette makers, perhaps, never 
had a year as prosperous as 1884, and there is nothing to indicate 
that the year 1885 will not be equal to it. But the demand is not 



36 

confined to cigarette leaf, but covers the whole range in which yel- 
low tobacco is employed. Again, there is nothing to fear from the 
competition of yellow tobacco produced in other countries. We have 
the fullest advices from what we conceive to be the best posted tobacco 
house in London on all the points involved in the situation. Their 
communication is dated 3d January, instant. Referring to the outside 
yellow growths, they say: "Chinese tobacco is used here chiefly in the 
manufacture of cheap, light mixtures for the pipe, and rarely, if ever, for 
cigarettes, as it burns badly and has a nasty flavor." Again: "The 
production of cigarette tobacco by the Turkish Empire continues'normal, 
and but little of it comes to England, the bulk of the fine being taken for 
home consumption, and by Russia, where but little is grown." It is a 
fact that the Sultan of Turkey smokes cigarettes made in Richmond, 
Va., and prefers them to anything produced in his own empire. So, the 
point wdth every man having the soils and seed fitted for this type (and 
this he must see specially to), and the appliances necessary to cure it 
properly, is authorized to do his very best this year for a crop of the 
finest quality. Don't be satisfied with a low grade; it won't pay. 

SuN-CuRED ("Mahogany") Tobacco. — This growth, peculiar to 
certain spots in the tobacco region (notably in Caroline, Louisa, Mecklen- 
burg and Henry counties, Virginia, and Granville county, North Carolina), 
and so much prized for the best grades of plug tobacco, has been com- 
manding very high prices for some months past, and those best able to 
judge say that the demand existing for it is now too constant to induce a 
belief that any decline in price will come about this year. 

Shipping Tobaccos. — Here we allow our London friends to again 
speak; for there they are specially in their element: 

"There is a general want of tobacco all over the world, and prices 
rule high. Two or three large crops of American, in succession, are 
wanted, so that there may be a sufficient supply in hand for a couple of 
years, should the growing crop fail, and manufacturers not be obliged 
to depend just upon the chance of the year's crop. Another reason is 
that it is vastly better for the tobacco to be old, and manufacturers 
not to be compelled to use it as soon as sampled. At present we 
have only about 3,000 hogsheads over a year's consumption of " West- 
ern Strips," and more than half that is in the hands of a few rich 
manufacturers, who will have old tobacco, and of the remainder a large 
portion will either be too common or heavy for our use here, so that 
virtually our manufacturers are going on from hand to mouth, and when 
the sampling of the previous year's crop takes place here they have 



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to buy for immediate use. In Virginia there is no surplus at all, and 
fine bright export tobacco is not to be had. We have had buyers 
from various parts of the Continent and from Australia here, but have 
not been able to supply them. From a grower's point of view this 
may be all very well, as although he limits his acreage of tobacco he 
gets a full price, but what is satisfactory to him is just the opposite to 
many others. Manufacturers cannot afford more than a certain price, 
and if one particular growth goes beyond them they find something 
else to take its place. Java and Japan are very good examples of 
this. If Java is dear, then Japan comes in, and vice versa, and this 
has been going on for years." This letter we submitted to one of 
the oldest and most judicious buyers of export tobaccos on the To- 
bacco Exchange in Richmond, when he returned it with the follow- 
ing memorandum: '"As to the tobacco outlook here, much will 
depend upon the prospects of a new crop, here and in the West, 
later on, but I should think that planters have every inducement 
to aim at a full crop, especially of dark tobacco, which now is la- 
mentably scarce, consequent upon the peculiar weather of the latter 
part of last summer. Colory and bright grades are also quite desirable, 
as the world at large is becoming more and more partial to color, but 
then the European markets will only compete for them to a small extent, 
unless prices should decline considerably, as your London friends say," 
It is not hard, from this survey, to tell the planters what they are 
justified in doing, in connection with the crop about to be pitched. 
So, looking at any type produced in this immediate latitude (Virginia, 
West Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee), and we find that the 
promise of a paying return to the planter, on the result of the coming 
crop, if of fine quality, is all that could be desired. 

JOHN OTT, Secretary, 
Southern Fertilizing Compa^iy, Richmond, Va. 

P. S. — It will be observed that no effort is made by this Company to 
push its business on any other basis than that of the tnerits alone of the 
Soods it offers. Hence, where our friends have used other articles by the 
side of the " Anchor Brand," the names of those articles are not given, 
no matter how badly we have beaten them in the field. The world is 
large enough to give us all a living, if we strive faithfully to deserve it, 
and in this, as in all things else, the best should win. 



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